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The Flash Report Gets the LA Times Treatment

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The Flash Report Gets the LA Times Treatment

A “little-read” blog, called the FlashReport, for which I sling copy got a taste of L.A. Times notoriety yesterday in a feature about the proprietor and friend, Jon Fleischman.

With just a whiff of snark, the writer James Rainey notes: “Although the FlashReport’s traffic doesn’t even register with major Web rating agencies, it’s a good bet to be found on the computer screens of conservative activists across California.”

Though Rainey does concede that regular readers, “including Democrats who want to keep an eye on the opposition, look to Fleischman for breaking news, morsels from supposedly secret meetings of Republican lawmakers and calls to action.”

While the piece calls into question whether Jon’s partisanship serves Californian Republicans well, it also sheds some compelling light on his liberal-moderate upbringing, political evolution and staffer-turned-blogger activist.

I’ve been reading the FlashReport since I first started as a communications director for state Senator Dennis Hollingsworth just as Jon got his operation up and running. It became a mainstay to keep tabs on the Capitol jibber-jabber and grew into a much broader conservative bully pulpit.

Being that I worked for a hard-right conservative, neither I nor my boss ever crossed swords with Jon and as such, we get on just fine. But that’s the beauty of the written word – it can inspire, prod and yes, even cut.

As Jon so aptly states at the conclusion of the piece: “Our main motto is ‘fair and biased,'” Fleischman said. “We will be fair and accurate, but we definitely will have a point of view.”